testimonials

Prior to meeting Michelle and Sarah from the Art of Dog Training, we were lost and at our wits end. We rescued our beloved Frenchie, Charlie, at the age of 2 and were warned that he had very bad manners, did not interact well with other dogs, suffered leash aggression, disliked humans, bikes, scooters…basically anything and everything. While we don’t know his full history as a pupper, we believe these behaviours came as a result of little to no socialisation, zero boundaries and some level of abuse.

Charlie is a very typical bulldog and we found him aggressively fixating on things during our walk, particularly other dogs. Being unskilled in training dogs, we were powerless at breaking this behaviour, which meant he dominated us and ruled the roost. Enter Michelle from Art of Dog Training. Upon meeting Charlie, she identified all of his behaviours, just through observation in his manner in the house. She quickly taught us that respect and obedience stems from strong leadership within the home. Within minutes of meeting us, Michelle empowered us with simple tips to exert leadership within the home, and the difference we saw within Charlie was immediate. By the end of the first session Michelle had our usually unsociable dog walking content side by side with her own dog under her lead, it was unbelievable. Then on our second training session, only two weeks from my our first, thanks to the training methods Michelle had taught us I now had the confidence and in my dogs eyes the control and leadership for him to be comfortable with me walking him alongside another dog.

The biggest transformation we have seen in Charlie is his calm demeanour. He has no interest in leading “our pack” anymore, and happily walks beside us with no tension on his leash. This calmness and trust he now has in us as leaders has also transformed his aggression toward other dogs. Where Charlie once lunged and snarled and nipped, he now breaks eye contact and will drop on command as another dog approaches. This is truly miraculous for us, as we never thought him capable of positive interactions. Just yesterday, we took Charlie to a dog friendly cafe, where for the first time he calmly rested, surrounded by other, sometimes unbalanced, dogs. AMAZING. We whole heartedly recommend Michelle to anyone with dogs who exhibit issues such as what we saw in Charlie. He was a notably hard case, as Frenchies can be arrogant, rude and stubborn and Charlie exhibited all of the undesirable behaviours they are renowned for. Now Charlie has dog friends at the dog park, and in a controlled environment I feel confident to let him off his leash, and watch him run a muck and just be a dog. Stop wishing your dog was better behaved, stop having to always apologise for your dogs behaviour, stop taking your dog home before going somewhere where you would love to be able to take them, and trust in The Art of Dog Training, you won’t regret it.

Before I met Michelle from the Art of Dog Training, my labradoodle puppy Harvey was unruly and wilful. When he didn’t get his way or wanted attention, he would growl, bite, bark and jump up on me. I still have scars on my hands and legs. I have always been consistent with Harvey and tried to set clear boundaries but he didn’t respect me, or other people. He is a very smart pup, the problem isn’t teaching him what to do, it is getting him to do it when I want him to do it.

The biggest difference Michelle has made is in my understanding of Harvey’s personality and how to communicate with him. She drew my attention to each of Harvey’s and my actions and explained what these behaviours mean in the dog world. Actions that I had not taken note of before, like Harvey resting his head on my foot, have meaning. Michelle showed me that every interaction with Harvey is an opportunity to assert my leadership. Michelle also showed me how and when to step in to stop unwanted behaviours before it got out of hand.

Michelle doesn’t just assist you with the particular concern you have raised with her. She gives you feedback on everything she observes during the training session. A few months after our first session I asked Michelle for help with managing Harvey’s behaviour when he gets picked up to go for his group walk during the day. He was jumping up on our dog walker, and jumping up on the other dogs. During this session Michelle observed that Harvey was not using his nose enough. I also learnt that Harvey was not walking nicely on lead. Whilst he was walking on a loose lead, he was sniffing the ground as he walked, a big no no!

I’ve found that the first couple of days following a training session are the most challenging. Harvey is dominant and very stubborn. He shows his displeasure at having freedoms he had previously enjoyed, such as biting his lead and my ankles, and getting off his mat whenever he wants, taken away. He threw some pretty spectacular tantrums.

Thanks to our time with Michelle, these times were not as stressful as they could have been. Michelle gave me the confidence and the tools to follow through. Once Harvey realised I wasn’t going to give in to him, the dynamic between us quickly changed and Harvey’s behaviour steadily improved.

As a result of applying what Michelle has taught me, Harvey is a calmer pup. I am now able to enjoy Harvey and enjoy training him. Harvey now goes to his mat and stays there when told, walks nicely on lead, is able to wait calmly and watch people and dogs walk past (mostly, we are still working on ignoring plastic grocery bags!). He doesn’t talk back much and when he does, his grumbles are rather half-hearted, he knows I’m the boss.

It goes without saying that you need to put in the time and effort. It is equally important to have the right tools and this is where Michelle has been extremely helpful. Thank you Michelle!

We met Michelle from Art of Dog Training, through friends that had used her services to train their Boxer. After seeing how well behaved and well trained their dog was it was an easy decision to engage her to train our little Toy Poodle, Soda!

The biggest difference Michelle has made, is to get the whole family on board and show us how to quickly and effectively correct Soda when she’s been head strong and trying to explore where she shouldn’t be. She has also helped us with how to get Soda to walk by our side and hopefully achieve having her walk off lead some time in the near future.

The results we have achieved with Soda since applying what Michelle has taught us have been invaluable. She is sitting on command, she is walking by our side on our walks and when Soda gets a little cheeky and tries to ‘test’ us we simply re-enforce what Michelle taught us and she quickly gets back on track! Michelle has also made herself available and taken time to help us when we’ve had puppy questions.

We would recommend Michelle to anyone with a new puppy and indeed with a dog that needs to be pulled back into line. She has a firm approach however her love and care for dogs is tremendous.

Thank you Michelle. We look forward to having you over again so you can help us out with the next phase of Soda’s learning journey!

Before we met Michelle from the Art of Dog Training, our 14week old dalmatian puppy Basil had begun to rule the house. My partner and I are first time dog owners and we thought we had read all the training books to help us but Basil challenged everything we tried. What we thought would be an enjoyable experience was becoming extremely stressful and unenjoyable. He wouldn’t listen to us if we disciplined him, he was persistent and stubborn with doing things like jumping on the couch (which he’s not allowed on), he would pick up and eat rocks (which he ended up in doggy hospital for) and would bite when he didn’t get attention or if you told him off. He also was becoming increasing frustrating to walk as he would stop/start/pull/bite and walks were not enjoyable at all.

The biggest difference Michelle has made is teaching us why he is behaving the way he is, and training us on how to manage his dominant and hyperactive behaviour. We definitely needed more training than Basil and it’s been so helpful!

During the session, however, the difference in Hugo was equally amazing. There were periods of calm and obedience that we had never achieved before. We are able to repeat the same process at meal times and achieve similar results (although we are in training too!)

It will be an ongoing process, and we will work with Hugo using the tools Michelle as given us – I won’t hesitate to call Michelle again in the future should I feel we need further help and support. She surpassed any expectations we had of our first session with a dog trainer.

Before we met Michelle from the Art of Dog Training, our 14week old dalmatian puppy Basil had begun to rule the house. My partner and I are first time dog owners and we thought we had read all the training books to help us but Basil challenged everything we tried. What we thought would be an enjoyable experience was becoming extremely stressful and unenjoyable. He wouldn’t listen to us if we disciplined him, he was persistent and stubborn with doing things like jumping on the couch (which he’s not allowed on), he would pick up and eat rocks (which he ended up in doggy hospital for) and would bite when he didn’t get attention or if you told him off. He also was becoming increasing frustrating to walk as he would stop/start/pull/bite and walks were not enjoyable at all.

The biggest difference Michelle has made is teaching us why he is behaving the way he is, and training us on how to manage his dominant and hyperactive behaviour. We definitely needed more training than Basil and it’s been so helpful!

Since Michelle has come one week ago we now have a different dog! He still challenges us at times but now we have the tools that actually work to stop the unwanted behaviour. Walking him is a very enjoyable experience as it should be and it’s become something that I look forward to instead of dreading it! We can now sit on the couch without him biting or scratching and when he picks up rocks now he will listen to us when we tell him to drop it. He is a much calmer and happy dog. We still have our challenging days but can see such a great improvement already, we’re so happy with the results so far and will keep implementing Michelle’s techniques to help shape Basil into the beautiful dog he can be.

Before we met Michelle and Sarah, April was very nervous and uncertain which I thought was her behaving aggressively. I had no idea where to start because I wasn’t reading her body language properly, so I would get frustrated while walking her because she would pull and bark.

The biggest difference Michelle has made is given Tim and I the tools to help April be confident and comfortable.

The results we have achieved with April since applying what Michelle has taught us is a calm, more obedient dog. Which means we are now able to enjoy walking April without being frustrated and her barking at home has stopped completely.

I would really recommended Michelle and Sarah as dog trainers. They really put me at ease and even though I blamed myself for my dog’s bad behavior they helped me see it was no ones fault. April is a much happier dog and I could not be happier with the results.

When I brought my puppy home, I thought yeah, I will teach him to sit, stand, fetch, interact with other dogs and go potty and he will be a loving and eagerly obedient dog. Unfortunately, over a few weeks, I noticed that my sweet little puppy had developed the temperament of a wild tiger but I didn’t know how or why this happened. What I could be certain of was that it was getting worse by the day – not only was I becoming afraid of him because of the fresh, painful bites he was inflicting on me, I was afraid he was losing his happiness and only showing two characteristics, withdrawn and aggressive.

My mind had been racing, conjuring up thoughts such as, Is my puppy really as bad as I think he is? or Maybe he is just playing? Or Maybe he just isn’t fixable…once I realised his behaviour was beyond my capabilities, I scoured the web looking for any help and perhaps hoping I could find an answer that was going to be a quick fix with little out of pocket expense. I found it hard to find the right information and when it came to my puppy potentially being a danger to anyone who comes into contact with him, I asked my puppies playgroup owner Rachel from “Windsor Walkies” for any recommendations as this was now to be an investment into the future happiness of my pup and I. Rachel highly recommended I chat with Michelle at “The Art of Dog Training”.

Michelle was fantastic and very generous with her time and advice!! She took my call, spent the time needed (free of charge) to ask me questions, and quickly and correctly managed to pick when and what triggered my puppies attacks. Michelle gave me some techniques all I could try immediately at home before our appointment but insisted that I was only to do this if I was comfortable and in no way scared. I’m not going to lie, my puppy, as I said had the temperament of a wild tiger so I was understandably scared but I tried the techniques Michelle suggested, stood my ground and persisted. The results were almost immediate. Every morning and every evening I had intense training sessions with my puppy during feeding time or bone time and within four days, the growling had almost stopped, the possessiveness of food was almost gone, the biting stopped completely and the state of trance my puppy went into with food was gone. My puppy comes most places with me so he is one of the “boys” now and all of my friends have noticed he is much happier, he is more relaxed and his aggression has gone.

Michelle has since been out to my home for a 2-hour session and picked up that my puppy has a dominant, insecure personality type and had him under control immediately. Her techniques are simple, easy to replicate and work.

I would highly recommend Michelle from The Art of Dog Training to anyone who can and wants to invest in the happiness and future of their dog. I am 100% certain that if I had not enlisted Michelle’s services, I would not be able to go near him right now and he would not be living his life to the fullest. Gold stars all-round. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Before we met Michelle and Sarah from the Art of Dog Training, our puppy/ Kobe was to put mildly, a handful. Kobe was our first dog, which we got from the shelter, and of course you don’t realize how much work they are going to be. What makes it worse if that without good training that lovely cute dog that you have got from the pound can become the master and you the disciple. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to check on the dog and pandered his every whim. And this is where Sarah and Michelle come in.

Firstly I think that they are not only dog behavioral experts but HUMAN psychologists. I came to realize over the course of a few Saturday group training session that the dog Kobe was fine, he was just being a dog, and that the changes that needed to happen was with us the owners. Now I’m not saying that doing the classes was easy for our egos as a dog owner. Sometimes we needed a few home truths about where we were going wrong. But both Sarah and Michelle’s passion for getting your dog to where it needs to go is great. They are like yin and yang, which works out well today in their styles and interactions. Also I really enjoyed speaking with the other dog owners who are in the same boat and the group walks are fantastic for getting your dog used to the real world.

The biggest difference Michelle and Sarah have made is Kobe is on his way to becoming a ‘balanced’ dog. By balanced it means that Kobe is starting to know when is playtime and when is work. His interactions with other dogs is getting better and better and also walking on the lead is great.

The results we have achieved with Kobe since applying what Michelle and Sarah have taught us not to be so hard on ourselves when we have to discipline him and that setting boundaries is a good thing. We are so happy we found Michelle and Sarah after initial lackluster training session with other puppy schools and mostly delighted to have a happy, content and well behaved dog. We can’t recommend them highly enough.

“I wasn’t the least bit skeptical about enlisting the services of The Art of Dog Training as the word in the park was all good about Michelle. I contacted Michelle for an assessment of my 12 week old puppy Bella, a gorgeous blue English Staffy. Michelle and Sarah took Bella for a walk and were excited to share their knowledge and help me train her. Bella is a very smart dog and caught on very quickly, but Michelle put the effort into me and helped me learn about a dogs body language so I could become a better owner and feel more confident with Bella. Bella is now 9 months old and an absolute delight. I recommend the services of The Art of Dog Training when other dog owners comment on my well behaved staffy. Of course I try to take all the credit, but alas I cannot – with the regular pack walks I can top up my skills and Bella can learn some new tricks too! The Art of Dog Training is an investment – the rewards are endless unconditional love from your well behaved pooch!”